


I like you like Zelda

by smolmoll04



Series: A Place Where All Can Fly [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Other, Partnership, Sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 07:31:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17260121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolmoll04/pseuds/smolmoll04
Summary: Kuroo and Kenma finally have a long-awaited chat about some things.An "I like you a latte" spin-off.





	I like you like Zelda

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is the coffee "date" from Latte chapter 17. Tbh Kenma's characterization is a mystery to me, so to any Kenma fans who might question this chapter, sorry in advanced. Also, sexuality really is limited in terms of vocabulary in Japan and aceness doesn't reaaallllyy have a term. There are ideas you can express to people but they probably won't quite understand. Japan is a very binary place but there are growing movements and understandings of being non-binary but again, the language is not as wide-spread. It can be very, very hard to be a queer person there because of this, but that's not limited to Japan.  
> For this work's purposes, Kenma may/does not adhere to a strict ace-ness. Aceness, like all sexualities and gender identities, can be discovered and shaped over time on a spectrum. For the purposes of representing ace-ness, I'm gonna say this once: do not shame folks for aceness. do not try to erase their aceness. do not erase their queerness or exclude them from it. For those who aren't quite sure what the ace spectrum is and don't see the difference between Kenma's dialogue as a sexuality vs. a personal preference, here're some links to help: https://www.asexuality.org https://www.asexuality.org/?q=general.html it is important to me that if you are confused you look into these links not because of this work but because of folks out there who are cut from the lgbtq+ community as well as the ally community because of their sexuality. This applies to non-binary and trans folks as well.  
> Okay, so now that that monologue is over, here're the goons!

            Kuroo was subconsciously drumming his fingers along the sides of his coffee cup, bouncing his leg, and reminding himself to breathe at least once a minute. Going out for coffee with Kenma wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. Hell, they still shared a bed during sleepovers. But going out for coffee with Kenma to discuss their romantic future was _entirely_ different. Kuroo wasn’t even thirsty but he needed something to occupy himself. He’d probably need about three drinks, just to give his nervous energy an outlet.

            He glanced down at his phone, clicking on the screen to see, just has it had been a minute before, notice-less.

            “Yep, I’m gonna die today,” he muttered to himself, sipping at his tea-latte. “This is it, this is the end of Kuroo Tetsurou. Somebody, witness m—”

            “You’re missing the silver in that case, Kuro,” came a voice from Kuroo’s left and he choked, nearly spitting his mouthful of London fog all over the table.

            Kenma wrinkled their nose. “You’re the picture of grace,” they said.

            “I…” Kuroo began, coughing a little. “Aren’t you early?”

            “Who’s early?” Kenma replied, setting their bag down in the chair across from Kuroo. “You’re half-way done with that cup.”

            “I’m a speedy drinker!” Kuroo protested.

            “You’re speedy at most things, Kuro,” Kenma replied as they moved towards the counter to order.

            “I am _not!_ What _things?!_ ” Kuroo yelped. Oh, man, oh MAN he was not ready for this conversation.

            Sighing, Kuroo downed the last of the London fog, his face and mouth burning. Kenma had kissed him so casually and so chastely and Kuroo had never been more flustered in his life. He’d been amazed he hadn’t popped the boner of a life time; instead, his heart had crumpled and re-inflated in a very strange way, and it was still slightly swollen and beat off-handedly whenever Kenma did _anything_. Kuroo couldn’t remember when he’d first realized Kenma was more than just a friend and that the exhilaration he felt whenever he talked to them was not, in fact, simply being happy to see them. Kuroo thought the moment had been in high school, when he’d graduated, walked down the stage after presenting his diploma, and seen Kenma duck their head for a moment to wipe tears. High school graduation wasn’t the end of the world, and saying good-bye to the team had been heartbreaking, in the loudest possible way, but seeing Kenma’s cat eyes glassy and red had made Kuroo’s heart burst its newly mended seams.

            No, that wasn’t the moment, Kuroo frowned. That had just been a casual heartbreak. He probably would never be able to pin down the moment. His love for Kenma had just kind of---ballooned out of control. Realizing it on the other hand, had been a strange mixture of hard and natural. It had been so obvious once he’d realized it, but coming to terms with sexuality in Japan, in high school, that was something that had taken many long talks with Yaku.

            Kenma had known about Kuroo’s feelings possibly before Kuroo, but they’d never seemed uncomfortable with it. They didn’t reciprocate in the same affectionate way but they never ran from Kuroo in fear or anger. Just the opposite, Kuroo thought, they went and kissed me.

            “I got you a cake,” said Kenma’s voice and Kuroo was startled out of his thoughts. Again.

            “Aww, Kenma! You know me too well,” he grinned.

            “I expect you to buy me a drink,” Kenma replied, sitting down with a small espresso cup. Kenma was a surprisingly efficient coffee drinker.

            They sat in silence for a moment before Kenma said, “So you wanted to talk?”

            Kuroo’s heart leapt out of his chest and into his throat and he proceeded to laugh uncomfortably at the feeling. “Yeah! Yep, I did, I did indeed.”

            Kenma eyed him, their large eyes unblinkingly assessing him. “Kuro, I didn’t kiss you because I was inspired by Katie Perry.”

            Kuroo wheezed. “Kenma--!”

            “That’s what you wanted to talk about right? Us?” Kenma persisted, glancing down at their espresso to swirl the foam a little. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it either, you know.”

            Kuroo blinked, taken aback. “Really? But you’ve never…I don’t know, wanted to talk before.”

            “Kuro, most of the time when I think about sexuality, I think about its relation to you,” Kenma said bluntly, sounding almost irritated. “Coming to terms with being asexual after being confused about being maybe being gay didn’t exactly leave room to talk to you. I didn’t really know what I felt for you. I just---liked you.”

            They turned their eyes up to Kuroo’s again, and Kuroo, who had been staring, agape, shut his mouth. “I…I’m sorry I didn’t notice,” he offered sheepishly.

            Kenma shrugged. “It’s not like I really understood it either. Japan doesn’t have a lot of good vocabulary, and I really ended up finding out through otome games, then looking it up. Still didn’t explain how I felt about you, and that confused me.” They frowned, their eyebrows quirked. “It was like some puzzle I couldn’t figure out but knew all the steps to like those damn dungeons in Final Fantasy X—” Kuroo was almost proud that Kenma referred to him as a video game, “I just…couldn’t put all the pieces together. I didn’t dislike that you liked me, but I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t know where to plug in the information or how to react. So when I kissed you, it was partially because I thought that if I did, it would make more sense. It felt comfortable, even though I didn’t really get why.”

            Kuroo said nothing as Kenma sipped their espresso. “Hey, I didn’t waste my money on that cake for you to just stare at it,” they said, lifting their cup to indicate the sweet Kuroo had been too distracted to eat.

            “Oh,” he said, looking down at it. “Sorry, I was too engrossed.”

            “That word is uncomfortable,” Kenma stated.

            “I was too occupied.”

            Kenma gave him a dry look.

            “So…” Kuroo started. “So, do you, you know, want to go out?”

            “Here’s what I don’t want,” Kenma said, setting their cup down. “I don’t want us to get weird. I’m _comfortable_ when I’m with you. I’m _okay_ with how you feel, even though I know you think about things I don’t really want to do. And I feel all that because I know you care about me, even if you’re a pain in the ass, well, just an ass, really. I don’t want to ‘go out,’ going out means all sorts of expectations I can’t handle. I just want to be this.” They gestured vaguely at the space between them. “And if I want to kiss you, I want to be able to kiss you. And I want you to use your powers of observation and read the mood.”

            Kuroo could feel his heart racing and a smiling threatening to ruin this very mood. He hadn’t really known what to expect from this talk but what Kenma had just said had been everything he’d needed.

            “I can do that,” he replied, slouching forward onto his elbows.

            “Your face is so gross right now,” Kenma said, sitting back from the table. But they sounded generally warm.

            “I can’t help it, I’m happy,” Kuroo whined.

            “Just stop writing songs about me, that’s not something I can really handle just yet,” Kenma sighed and Kuroo felt himself blush.

            “How did you know?!” he burst out.

            “Kuroo, I hate to break this to you, but for all your powers of observation and cat-ee-ness, you can’t best me in subtly,” Kenma said, drawing their knees up onto the chair. As they watched Kuroo, they smiled a little and Kuroo’s heart twanged.

            “You could make me into a video game as pay back!” he suggested, sitting up a little.

            “No, you want that, that’s not payback,” Kenma shook their head. “And I’d just be testing them, not designing them.”

            “Aw, man,” Kuroo sighed, slouching back in his chair. “What a shame.”

           


End file.
